


No Gilded Cage

by unsettled



Category: Body of Lies (2008)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-25
Updated: 2010-10-25
Packaged: 2017-10-12 21:24:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/129237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unsettled/pseuds/unsettled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Well, that's a call he never expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Gilded Cage

Roger's been working for Hani Salaam for close to three months when Ed gets a call.

"Yeah."

"How did you stand it?"

Ed's mind freezes for a moment. _What the_ …"Hello?" he says and then his mind catches up with his mouth and "How did I stand what, Mr. Salaam?"

There's a breath on the other end of the line, like Hani's startled himself, and Ed wonders for a second if he'd had anything else planned to say when Ed picked up the call, because that had the sound of something blurted out half unconsciously. The sort of thing that's always on your mind, but never ever spoken. Like, _You've always deserved something better than this, Ferris_.

Hani speaks, finally, almost determined, like he's committed himself to saying these things that are never spoken. "Sending him out, and never knowing for sure if he'll be coming back. Alive."

 _Whoa_. "Ferris."

There's a breath. "Ferris," only Hani says it- Hani says it like it's a punch in his gut, and then, " _Roger_ ," and it's harsh, ripped out of him.

Well, whooee. Who'da thought Mr. Hani Salaam would forget the most basic rule of all? "And you've just now started wondering this? I'd have thought you cleared your mind of it back when you played him hard for Al Salim."

"That was different."

"And how exactly was that different? Seems to me about the same. Either way, you're sending him out with more than a chance he's going to wind up with a bullet in the back of his head," and yeah, it's a little hard for Ed to even say it, but the sharp breath Hani takes is about worth it.

"It's different. There was a plan, he was never really –"

"He was," and Ed can't quite keep his anger under wraps. "Dammit, Hani, don't try to pretend we didn't come this close to losing him for good. You can go on about your plans if that's the only way you could stand to send him out, but you and I both know your _plan_ could have gone wrong at any second. So don't give me any bullshit about how you can't stand to send him out now."

There's nothing but silence on the other end, nothing, and for a second Ed wonders if he's let his mouth run off too much. He sighs.

Stares blankly at the wall. "It doesn't get easier," he says, quietly. "It never gets easier. It should. But it doesn't. And it's no use chaining him to a desk and setting him to paperwork. If he doesn't slip out and get himself in trouble, trouble comes to him. He's just too damn good to waste."

Silence, silence, more silence, except for the faint in and out of breath, ghosting into the receiver. And then, as quiet as another breath, "He is."

Ed shakes his head, even though he knows Hani can't see it. "You know how it goes, Hani. We're both too focused on stopping our enemies to be careful of him. Roger can take care of himself."

"Can he?" Hani says, but there's something defeated about his tone, some resignation that tells Ed all he needs to know.

"You'll send him back out, when he returns, and if he's bloodied and bruised you'll give him a week, a month; but you'll send him back out. Get used to it, Hani. He's your problem now. And he'll keep touching death on the shoulder, keep bringing back what you need to know, keep proving that his worth doesn't lie only in your bed. You can't stop him. You can't keep him safe."

"You're right," Hani says, and he's distant as usual, cool, collected, no sign of the desperation that tainted his earlier words. "Mr. Ferris can take care of himself. That is not what I should be concerned with." There's a second, just enough time for Ed to open his mouth, and close it again, wordless, before Hani speaks again. "I suppose I should thank you, for being of some use for once."

He may have found his equilibrium once more, but he still says Roger's name like it's cutting his tongue, bleeding his lips.

Hani hangs up without even another word, surprise, surprise. Ed stares at nothing, his fingers wrapped loosely around the switch of his headset.

 _Roger can take care of himself._

Snorts. "Sure he can," he mutters to himself. "Right."

Not his problem any more.


End file.
